CHINA - GUILIN TO GUANGZHOU

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

30 March 2024

We left early in the morning on November 14, 2017, after breakfast, heading to Gulinbei Railway Station (Guilin North Railway Station), which is located at the intersection of Beicai Road and Zhanqian Road in Diecai District, Guilin City, Guangxi Province.

Our tour guide, Mr. Alex, likes to joke. He told our group that in Guangzhou, we would be getting another tourist guide. We all felt sad at that time because we had gotten along very well with Alex in Guilin. He is very friendly and likes to joke. In fact, Alex always reminds us about prayer time, and even more impressively, he reminds us to do Jamak Taqdim, even though he is not a Muslim.

Feeling that this is the last day with Alex, I wanted to take a memory photo with him as I feel so sad that I won't be seeing him again in Guangzhou. Alex laughed and said he was the tour guide in Guangzhou that he mentioned earlier... we felt relieved... haha... Alex, you are really funny...

GUILIN NORTH STATION (GUILINBEI RAILWAY STATION)

Guilinbei Station operates high-speed train services from Guilin to South Guangzhou, North Shenzhen, North Guiyang, Zhuhai, and others. The conventional train (non-high-speed train) goes to Pingxiang, South of Shanghai, Zhengzhou, East of Chengdu, West of Beijing, and so on.

The city of Guilin has 3 railway stations, namely Guilin Zhan in the center of Zhongshan Nanlu, Guilin North Station (Guilinbei Zhan), and Guilin West Station (Guilin Xi Zhan), which were newly operational in January 2016.

HIGH SPEED TRAIN (BULLET / FAST TRAIN)

China's High Speed Train, also known as the Bullet Train or Fast Train, can reach a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), with the highest speed being 350 km/h (217 mph).

There are 2,600 High Speed trains numbered with the letters G, D, and C, connecting more than 200 cities in China, covering 32 of the country's 34 provinces.

Until 2017, China managed to maintain the largest High Speed Rail (HSR) Network in the world. The length of the HSR network exceeds 22,000 km.

The longest HSR line in the world is from Beijing to Guangzhou (2,298 km). HSR is expected to operate to Hong Kong by 2018.

The distance between Guilin and Guangzhou by car is 628 km. However, when using the High Speed Train service, the distance becomes shorter, with the journey taking 4 hours and 15 minutes, covering a distance of 433 km to 856 km.

Guangzhou – Guilin High Speed Train

Basic Facts:

 Open Date: December 26th, 2014

 Duration: 2.5 – 5.5 hours
 Running Distance: 433 – 758 kilometers (269 - 471 miles)
 Top Speed: 300 km/h (186 mph)
 Route: Running along Guiyang -Guangzhou HSR, most of them run further to/from Guiyang.
 Stations along the way: Foshan West, Sanshui South, Zhaoqing East, Guangning, Huaiji, Hezhou, Gongcheng, Yangshuo, Zhongshan West

Resource: 

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/high-speed/guangzhou-guilin.htm

During the journey from Guilin to Guangzhou, my wife became our photographer, taking pictures of the scenery along the way. The picture is not very clear because of the train window, but I still took a photo to keep as a memory. China is famous for its natural beauty... We pass through villages surrounded by scenery of outstanding natural beauty....the beauty of nature can be enjoyed while traveling by train..

For me, a journey by train is not only fascinating but also comfortable and economical for long distances. I have had the pleasure of traveling to several places by train, and these journey from Guilin to Guangzhou have given me some of the best memories of my life. They have been the most relaxing and thrilling experiences one can have. 

For me, traveling has been a wonderful opportunity to explore new places, try new foods and meet new people. I have had the chance to travel to many places and to learn about different cultures and way of life, which helped us to understand and appreciate the world around me. Traveling also helped me to develop my language skills. 

Overall, I've found that traveling by train makes my trip feel more like the journey is part of the destination..... Train travel is Stress and Hassle-free

Next:

Guangzhou - first day

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, KL

30 March 2024 > 19 Ramadan 1445H: 5.02 p.m

CHINA - CHINESE TEA ,JADE, AND MIRAGE SHOW, GUILIN

BY HJ ZULHEIMY MAAMOR

29 MARCH 2024 

From Fuboshan Park, we continued our journey to a Chinese tea processing house, but I don't remember its exact location.

CHINESE TEA

Chinese tea culture is the culture of tea making and drinking in China. China is the hometown of tea, Chinese people discovered and utilised tea, it is said to have begun in the age of Shennong, less than 4.700 years ago. 

Guilin produces several kinds of local special tea. They are monk fruit, Longji tea (planted with Longji Rice Terraces, Longsheng), Guilin Maojian Green Tea, Osmanthus flower tea and Li River needles white tea. The Chinese tea is ideal for a gift to relatives and friends. 

Chinese people really like to drink tea; they will treat guests who come with tea. Tea is a necessity in the daily lives of Chinese people.
There are several types of Chinese tea, including green tea, red tea, olong tea, flower tea, tuo tea (tea that has been compressed into a bowl shape), and others.
Tea in China is beneficial for aiding digestion and preventing several diseases.

After the visit here, we were taken to lunch at Endian Halal Restaurant in Chong Shan Lu, Guilin.

After lunch, we stopped by the jade shop. I forgot to write down the location. Jade was worn by kings and nobles in China and after death placed with them in the tomb.As a result, the material became associated with royalti and high status. It also came to be regarded as powerful in death, protecting the body from decay. 

Even today, jade pendants are ofter worn as lucky charms to ensure good health. 

After the tour, we went back to the hotel to rest because tonight we have another program in Guilin. Tomorrow (14.11.2017), we will leave for Guangzhou.

After a short rest at the hotel, we walked to have our dinner at a Muslim restaurant located not far from our hotel, which is on Zhengyang Pedestrian Street. Tonight, my wish came true, to taste Mee tarik in China. In Kuala Lumpur, I'm used to this mee tarik (Malaysian style),I still want to taste mee tarik from its country of origin which is China.

Mee Tarik is referred to as "beef noodle" in Lanzhou, China. It is sometimes simply called Lamian, which means hand-pulled noodle in Chinese, or "beef lamian" elsewhere in Malaysia, local people called as "Mee Tarik"

ZHENGYANG PEDESTRIAN STREET

After dinner, we continued walking towards Zhengyang Pedestrian Street because tonight there is a Chinese Acrobatics show in this area. Since the Guilin Mirage Show started at 7.30pm, we took the opportunity to wander around Zhengyang Pedestrian Street.

Zhengyang Pedestrian Street is the main pedestrian walk away and has various restaurants, food vendors, shops and the famous clock tower of Guilin. 

MIRAGE GUILIN SHOW

The Mirage Guilin Show is an acrobatic show with music. Acrobatics are really popular in China. Even during my previous visit to China, which included Beijing, Tianmen, Chengde, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou, watching an acrobatics show was a must.

The most spectacular and terrifying performance is the motorcycle stunt show, where initially only one motorcycle spins in a spherical globe. This is then followed by one motorcycle after another, until finally there are 5 motorcycles spinning around the sphere. Even more impressive, one of the 5 motorcyclists is a woman. Our Tour Guide, Mr. Alex, informed us that the woman was once the greatest stuntwoman in China and had traveled all over the world to perform with her team. Now she only performs at this theater because of her age.

After the performance, we went straight back to our hotel. However, as usual, on the way back to the hotel, we had to pass through Zhengyang Pedestrian street again. It is a common habit for women to stop by there, so I had to wait for my wife and mother-in-law to buy something to bring back to Malaysia.

Back at the hotel, we have to take a rest because tomorrow (14/11/2017) we will be taking the High-Speed Train to Guangzhou. So tonight is our last night in Guilin... even though we only spent a few days in Guilin, it has left a lot of sweet memories for us here... because Guilin is famous for its beautiful scenery... frankly speaking... I have been to several areas in China including Beijing, Tianmen, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. But for me, Guilin is still the most beautiful in terms of scenery... that's how beautiful nature is that God created for us to enjoy and learn from what we have seen along the way...

Goodbye Guilin.....

Next:

GUILIN TO GUANGZHOU WITH HIGH SPEED TRAIN

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, KL

30 March 2024 > 19 Ramadan 1445H: 12.02 a.m